Can Tim Cook fix what’s rotten at Apple?

He isn’t going to invent the next iDevice

These small moves are certainly laudable, and indicate that Cook may indeed be a savvy businessman, but he has a hurdle to overcome as he is certainly not the “product guy” that Jobs was. Tim needs to convince consumers that he is going to be able to handle the products that so many people find irreplaceable in their daily lives. To do this, Cook is going to take the industry by surprise and slam a sledgehammer into some of the most famous walls that Steve Jobs put in place brick by brick. He is going to power through some bold moves that really should have been done long ago, but had not because of Steve Jobs and his inability to allow anyone but himself to call the shots.

The aforementioned bold steps have already begun, in the form of the release official Gmail app from Google for iOS 5. Granted, the app got taken down the day that it released because of some serious issues with push notifications, but the fact that it released at all should be ringing bells for analysts the world over. This is not the first time Gmail has been released for the iPhone. Back in the first-generation days of both the iPod Touch and iPhone, Google released a bundle of apps that included the ability to check a Gmail account. That bundle was pulled along with the official Google Voice app after the release of Android and the departure of Eric Schmidt from the board of Apple. Jobs was irate at Google, and went so far as to call the search giant’s mantra of “don’t be evil” a bunch of “bullshit” during an internal town meeting at Apple. Since that time Google has had difficulty getting Gmail approved for iOS devices, even though its mail service is one of the most widely used in the world.

While one can’t attribute the sudden approval and release of the app directly to Cook, it is a safe bet to say that he had a hand in the process. Two years from now when people look back to this moment, they will declare it the “shot heard around the world” of the starting gun to Cook’s success with Apple — success based off the following decisions that he is going to make and implement in the near future to solidify his standing as CEO of one of the world’s largest companies.

Apple is finally going to embrace the fact that while HTML5 is a rapidly developing web platform, the more widely-adopted (for the time being) Flash is not a crutch but a rich tool for delivering content. Cook has already decided that Adobe is not “lazy” as Jobs labeled them. I predict that iOS devices will see Flash content working as well if not better than it does on Android units. Adobe will be embraced again as a strong partner for web app development, and will work hard with Cupertino to push forward HTML5 while maintaining Flash in the meantime. This is iOS’s biggest weakness in functionality. Yes, there are ways around it, but there shouldn’t need to be.

Apple will drop the “Blu-ray is a bag of hurt” routine and get with the program. The underlying reason that Jobs was against Blu-ray wasn’t licensing issues, although that was good cover, but the fact that he saw Blu-ray as a direct competitor to content sales on iTunes. While online media is exploding and Blu-ray sales are anemic, native support of Blu-ray burning and playback in OS X needs to happen.

Cook is not going to be Steve Jobs. He’s not even going to try. This is the biggest innovation he can make for Apple in the coming years. He will of course give myriad nods to his predecessor while making moves to position the company for even greater success. The moment he comes out on stage with a black turtleneck every single shareholder should rush to their brokers to get out of Apple ownership as fast as they can. Cook coming out dressed like that would be a funeral outfit, not an homage to the former chief.

When it comes to the tech industry, the future is almost impossible to divine. Giants have risen and crashed to the Earth to perish in the flames of their avarice. Cook may end up with is head on the proverbial platter with Apple stock in a tailspin. He may lead them to even more innovation and success. But one thing is certain, Tim Cook’s Apple is going to be a lot sweeter to more people than the previous one in the short term. Whether or not he can make that long term is entirely in his hands.

Tagged In

If Apple had allowed flash, I never would have bought an Android product. I think Tim Cook is an innovator, just not in the same way as Steve Jobs. He’s taking the right steps to a bright future for Apple.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KQJSL24D7KF7IVFQUAVN75DJEI Justin

I thought Skyfire VideoQ, the app, would utilize a webpage’s flash video and change it to html5 on the go for your mobile devices such as the ipad and iphone that don’t directly utilize flash? Which is essentially allowing you to view flash.

I could be wrong, I don’t use apple products, I just thought I remember reading that somewhere.

http://twitter.com/lostingames91 C King

If Apple had allowed flash, I never would have bought an Android product. I think Tim Cook is an innovator, just not in the same way as Steve Jobs. He’s taking the right steps to a bright future for Apple.

http://twitter.com/lostingames91 C King

If Apple had allowed flash, I never would have bought an Android product. I think Tim Cook is an innovator, just not in the same way as Steve Jobs. He’s taking the right steps to a bright future for Apple.

http://twitter.com/hurtle24 Hari Seldon

This is a strange article, you have to try very hard to find negative stuff on this company, I can see that you have done this, but none of your points carry much weight. For example, Steve Jobs always addressed his internal emails to “team”, the idea that Tim Cook has changed anything in this regard is erroneous, you obviously don’t have any sources at Apple. The stock market reaction to Steve’s death was largely muted, in fact the stock went up a little. The idea that now that Steve has passed, Tim Cook allowed the Gmail app is frankly nuts, Google currently has 14 apps in the app store, the only one with a lengthy review process was Google Voice, but that was resolved a while back.

With all due respect, I suggest you do some research, or find someone who has to write about Apple.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk Sebastian Anthony

Just FYI, the stock drop is referring to when Jobs resigned — not when he died.

I thought the latest patent for the MacBook Pro was a thinner optical drive, rather than going away altogether?

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003119880440 Harry Mcduff

Thief. Liar. Cheat. That’s what it takes to make it in american business. Introducing Steve the iCon Artist! Watch and learn: Stealing ideas from unsuspecting employees and having your long-time Ashkenazi cronies take credit for them (thanks to unrelenting free media advertising through Jew York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Slate, Wired, Fox, etc.). Having your Ashkenazi iCronies remove Apple from their resume and planting them as iSpies in Google, Sony, Samsung, LG, Nokia, HTC and other competitors (who do the actual innovation for Apple to steal later). And, oh yea, stealing back the stock options you gave your employees for back-breaking hard work after you are finished with them.

you seem to forget that *most* smartphone users do not *care or know* about the politics on flash.. ALL they want is their youtube, bbc Iplayer, facebook games, etc…

just look at the reply by ‘C King’ …. :)

cannot find the negative??

“Jobs was reported to have actively pushed away high-level people”

“Jobs wanted solitude and an environment free of people making suggestions”

“Right now there is over $80 billion sitting in a bank somewhere. Normally, a company rewards its shareholders with stock buybacks and dividend payouts, not so with Jobs.”

enough??

http://twitter.com/hurtle24 Hari Seldon

You keep using quotation marks as if you’re quoting someone, who?

Your sentences seem disconnected to the smatter at hand. The only point you seem to have addressed if flash, Adobe it seems disagree with you, apparently Steve Jobs was correct.

http://twitter.com/jrb jrb

@hari seldon, “The stock market reaction to Steve’s death was largely muted, in fact the stock went up a little”

you misread, either subconciously, or purely to try to make a point, but the article actually mentions Apple’s stock price at the time Jobs resigned, not passed away. around $10b (3%) was wiped off apple’s stock at the time.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003119880440 Harry Mcduff

Sheldon, you have no idea what you are talking about. Now go back to your Jew York Times

http://twitter.com/gingerjet gingerjet

You will never see flash on an iOS device for a simple basic reason. It doesn’t work well on mobile devices. Period. It doesn’t take a Jobs to know that.

Markus Creech

Never say never. Thats my philosophy.

Markus Creech

I would also like to add that I have yet to run across issues with flash on my mobile deivce. I’m not claiming there are no issues, but to claim “period” that it does not work well seems like a blanket statement.

Anonymous

yes, even the bbc flash works great, usually a stumbling block for some desktop browsers… :)

Anonymous

check out youtube and see flash running great on many devices.

Its really apple wanting to control accesss.

mori bund

Tell this my Android device, because it obviously doesn’t know this!
I use the flash player in my Opera Mobile browser on the SGS nearly every day (and I’m very glad I have it) and it works fine. Period.

http://profiles.google.com/carboncow robert feller

We’ll when the average android phone gets anywhere near an iphone in battery life you may have a point…but since Apple likes to control the quality of the products on their quality hardware there is a great argument why not to include flash. nobody wants a smart phone with a compromised battery life…

mori bund

Well, I want a smart phone that let me decide by myself if I prefer Flash or a little more battery life. I don’t need a company as nanny who tells me what I have to choose.

Anonymous

It actually works pretty well when implemented properly. The reason it’s not on iOS devices is because it’s capable of being a market for selling apps, games, music, etc.

Anonymous

what you mean ALL the android phones?? in browser flash works perfectly well for me thanks… :)

Christopher Miller

Flash works phenomenally well on my Playbook, so try again.

http://twitter.com/meanJim Jimmy Lee

“Apple is finally going to embrace the fact that while HTML5 is a rapidly developing web platform, the more widely-adopted (for the time being) Flash is not a crutch but a rich tool for delivering content. Cook has already decided that Adobe is not “lazy” as Jobs labeled them.”

Source?

“I predict that iOS devices will see Flash content working as well if not better than it does on Androidunits. Adobe will be embraced again as a strong partner for web app development, and will work hard with Cupertino to push forward HTML5 while maintaining Flash in the meantime. This is iOS’s biggest weakness in functionality. Yes, there are ways around it, but there shouldn’t need to be.”

As stated before by Hari Seldon: With all due respect, I suggest you do some research, or find someone who has to write about Apple.

This is not iOS’s biggest weakness in functionality, thats a huge claim. Steve Job’s pushed for higher standards. Tim Cook will do the same.

Markus Creech

I don’t think he needs a source, as this entire article is speculation. We can take the cue from “I predict…”

Markus Creech

For arguments sake, what IS iOS’s biggest weakness in functionality?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KQJSL24D7KF7IVFQUAVN75DJEI Justin

I also thought I remembered reading something about adobe experimenting with html5. You know, you don’t need one or the other, it’s not a husband or wife, it’s just a way of delivering content. To only allow one option is ridiculous.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KQJSL24D7KF7IVFQUAVN75DJEI Justin

I also thought I remembered reading something about adobe experimenting with html5. You know, you don’t need one or the other, it’s not a husband or wife, it’s just a way of delivering content. To only allow one option is ridiculous.

Anonymous

A lot of devs, etc hate flash due to the ubiquity, and therefore the amount of amateur content that crashes.. It is also a large enogh channel for hackers to get a look in…

The HTML5 devotees seem to forget, that once THAT is
ubiquitous, then the SAME thing will happen!!!!

Anonymous

Let me translate this article: Tim Cook is transforming Apple from a unique company into one that mirrors the traits and characteristics of many other companies in the technology industry–support of employee giving, depletion of cash reserves through accquisitions and dividend payouts (at least for the mature tech companies), “team” management styles with friendly e-mails to 50,000 employees (acting as if everyone was part of the process), oh, and a move to adopt the technology norms of the day (for example, flash).

In other words: Tim Cook is making Apple less like “Apple” and more like the bevy of other technology companies that have underperformed and underinnovated relative to Apple for the last fifteen years. Gee, what a surprise. A non-visionary has a non-visionary approach to managing the world’s largest tech company. Shiver me timbers!

My only question: we’re supposed to be happy about this … why, exactly? (Assuming we don’t want Apple to fail)

mori bund

After reading your post, one might think Apple was the only successful, innovative company in the last 15 years, all others were botchers and only the Apple-way is the right way. iFanboys!

http://www.mrseb.co.uk Sebastian Anthony

Ah come on, we were doing so well, not a single mention of ‘fanboy’… until you. It always degenerates from this point.

Markus Creech

agreed.

mori bund

Sorry, you’re probably right, but this uncritical hero worship (while vilifying the others) is just annoying. (And I’m not only talking about the fanb… ahem… supporters of this certain company.)

Markus Creech

Right on! “Should Know” makes it sound like Apple is the perfect company as is. With as much cash as Apple has, I think it could stand to participate (particularly with employee donations) in charity events. I don’t think the changes the authos is talking about would effect the “uniqueness” of Apple.

Anonymous

‘underperformed and underinnovated relative to Apple’??

you mean like other companies have bluetooth transfer *out of the box* , UNLIKE apple???

you mean like other companies have 5Mp cameras for years, unlike apple??

you mean like other companies have a slot to plugin a memory card, unlike apple????

you mean like other companies have a *removable battery*, unlike apple??????

http://twitter.com/bufbarnaby Joe

Is he out of the closet yet ?
Occupy Apple…they are what is wrong with America !
If things go bad , he can “Cook” the books.

Markus Creech

I must say, I’m intrigued by the new building Apple is working on.

check everything

Allow me to make some predictions: Ray Walters is not John Dvorak. He never can be the “king of Apple click bait”. He can only be a weak imitation of a style of tech writing that lives on despite the moribund failures it has spawned.

Tim Cook is very bright CEO. He earned his MBA from one of the finest schools in the country, Duke, and has proven his worth under some of the most demanding task masters in tech industry. He does not need to follow the not very well thought advice of second rate blogger at a third tier tech site.

Posting on own’s google+ account to “flame away” is way to make sure that people spend time way down here at the bottom of the web page where the banner ads and money making is not even visible.

Apple will not change under Tim Cook. Apple under Tim Cook will be the posthumous embodment of what Steve Jobs thought when he enticed Scully over from Pepsi — a CEO that could take the firm “to the next leve” and that level was epitimized by Xerox or HP at their heydays — firms with ABSOLUTE dominance of their segments, striking FEAR into any competitors that they would unless superior R&D / near bottomless resources / maniacally dedicated employees to take over even more of the competitive battlefield. Scully did not have the depth to make the tough decisions like being more demanding of his employees to deliver functionallity of Newton before the public disgrace that followed. Cook does.

Apple does not need to be “a friend” to any other firm. Ask Ellison what he thinks about “potential allies” — to be the premier DB and business application vendor he acquires any firm that he thinks is useful.

Apple has its flag in the right soil — green is the new replacment for “charity” in the lingo of corporate responsibility. Ask Starbuck’s Howard Schultz or Whole Food’s John Mackey what they’ve learned about resonating with their customers.

Anybody can make up any fantasy they want, but when the rubber meets the road the fakers are easily sniffed out.

Markus Creech

I thinkyou have some points here, but I also think you were much to angry when you wrote this to get your point across. You also throw insults around as though you think they help the conversation that others are trying to have.

Justin Chase

Blu-Ray is obsolete.

Anonymous

Tim Cook is going to be paying out dividends because the IRS has basically told Apple, “Either you pay dividends or we’re going to tax you at 100 percent for the retained earnings you’re holding”. It’s the same thing they told Microsoft that got them paying out a dividend. Pay out or risk loosing it all to the Government as Excess Profit.

One threat he’s going to face is commitie-itus. Can he keep from boging the entire company down in commities where nothing gets decided on products? That’s one of the reasons Jobs was so Draconian. For Good or Bad, The buck did stop with him.

Anonymous

For me Steve Jobs passing is a requirement for Apple to change. While Steve was able to maintain a cult like following which produced very loyal and repeat customers. Its very much was a marketing dream for Apple who could reap the very nice profit margins from that following. But things are different now and Apple is transitioning to a more traditional marketing of good products and competitive pricing. When you look at all of Apple’s products in almost every product line their is now decent competition and Apple is feeling that pinch. The challenge for Tim Cook is a typical CEO one. He must keep Apple’s product at the front and also juggle profit margins that Apple’s investors have come to expect. One thing Apple simply cannot afford to do and that is let quality dwindle to a point where consumers will begin to rethink considering Apple when buying.

http://twitter.com/bufbarnaby Joe

They say Jobs rarely bathed and liked to soak his feet in the loo.
No wonder Apple stinks.

http://twitter.com/bufbarnaby Joe

If Apple really wanted to make a difference , they could give all those occupy people enough money to go home.
And pay to clean up all the parks they ruined with urine/feces/assaults/property damage.
Apple should pay for all the law enforcement overtime these knuckleheads have cost the taxpayers too.

Darvinius Berar

Hmm, i love how Apple dedicated fans try to find a positive explanation for every problem apple products have.
I am a multi os user. I like all os not only OSX or windows or linux, but:
– why on OSX are so little suported apps, why still are more on windows even if OSX is indeex more stable and secure then windows
– why we do not have so many games suported on OSX, even if apple is addressed to young people ( and if Steve Jobs would have listen apple fans he would have fight for OSX to become the main OS for games to develop, and not the os for the shiniest laptop from an internet cafe, a proof that he was concerned about aesthetics more then functionality)
-why is apple partner whit ATI and not Nvidia or even both, nvidia ist the most powerful gpu producer and very active in linux world ( another prof apple wants to make money not powerful hardware)
– why the apple workstations/laptops are so overpriced when comparing specs whit a windows pc build( at laptops u would say is the battery and other thins but at workstations, witch use same hardware now like windows buids…)
– why Steve Jobs never ( at least from what i know and seen) presented the true people/team designing the apple products, because he was not the designer, he was just a marketing genius.
-why everyone thinks apple products are innovation, u must only look at 20 years old Star Trek and u see the iPhone,iPod and iPad concepts years before apple made them( and is very interesting that even the round borders and grey color match on some products, yes i know u would say is a big coincidence, but to big in my opinion)
-why is the Iron Courtain between Aplle and the rest of the pc industry world, witch has and respects some standards in these days and some things are a must not an option (usb, hardware compatibility, flash, just to name a few)

And many more….we must see the bigger picture and not the cropped image what Steve Jobs( witch i personally admired for his marketing skills but anything more then that…a big NO) wanted us to see. Yes the apple products are indeed a high quality piece of hardware, but i hope the new CEO will repair some of the broken lines what Steve Jobs cut, imposing his view, and i repeat HIS VIEW, and not the end customers, on what a computer should be.

Jamie Jamison

“Apple will drop the “Blu-ray is a bag of hurt” routine and get with the program. The underlying reason that Jobs was against Blu-ray wasn’t licensing issues, although that was good cover, but the fact that he saw Blu-ray as a direct competitor to content sales on iTunes. While online media is exploding and Blu-ray sales are anemic, native support of Blu-ray burning and playback in OS X needs to happen.”

Why? Blu-ray *is* a bag of hurt. The sales are anemic and the technology is obsolete. DVD-ROM/DVD-RW was a natural technology to adapt to laptops and desktops because it allowed vendors to ship software packages that had formerly consumed multiple CD-ROMs on a single disk. The fact that you could also use the DVD-ROM in your computer to play movies was a bonus. But for computers what advantage does Blu-ray really offer over DVD-RW? The media is significantly more expensive, Blu-Ray disks cost 10 times what DVD-RW cost, and this is five years after the technology was developed. The players are significantly more expensive as well, and for what use. You can fit Windows 7, MacOS or any Linux distribution you care to name on an 8Gb memory stick and use that to boot and image a system, assuming of course that you’re not already doing so over the internet. An 8Gb memory stick retails for about 8 dollars. This is more expensive than DVD-RW, but in the future are we even going to be using DVD-RW for software installs? Probably not, we’re going to download that software from the internet, we might use a DVD-RW or CD to boot the system but after that it makes more sense to have the software sitting in a centralized repository accessible over the network than it does to schlep it around on a disk. If you need to back your system up it makes more sense to do so to an external hard drive or a USB stick than it does to burn a bunch of DVDs or Blu-ray discs.

Also who in Hell wants to watch a Blu-Ray movie on their laptop? Yeah, I’m sure that all of that 1080p goodness is going to look absolutely stunning on the 15″ screen of my MacBook Pro, and as far as usage in home theatre PCs goes why screw around with installing a BD player? Just buy a PS/3, which is a fantastic Blu-ray player, and you have something that can play games and stream content from a DLNA server. I don’t want my Apple products to be crapped up with a bunch of hardware and software mandated by the Blu-ray working group to prevent me from ripping Blu-ray digital streams (hardware and software which does nothing to prevent or deter copying digital streams) on my Mac. If that means that I forgo being able to play Blu-ray content on my Mac well who cares? I can purchase movies from iTunes or watch them on Amazon, Netflix or Hulu.

Anonymous

IO’m glad changes are coming to Apple. I mean changes for the good. It will be difficult at first and he will need to go slow to see how the market reacts and the shareholders. He has bright ideas, I would like to see Apple products in direct competition with other computer products. They can have high end as they always have had, but also gear to the rest of the population. Not everyone in the
US and abroad has 6K to spend on a computer because it is fancy, and looks good. Apple need to build affordable computers and meet the needs of the consumers in products and software. One thing Mr. Cook needs to concentrate his attention is on “enterprise solutions” he should be good art this.

http://yahoo.com Stephen w Ryan

The on-coming of the Silicon carbide innovation of a CPU with added quibits that produce quantum -oriented algorithms and new inspiring wavelengths a type already used in telecommunications to a point, is where APPLE should seek the newest of innovations to their next creative piece of hardware they have the money,produce the chip or buy it,the research and the sky will open up again.Steve Jobs will help from his new vantage point!

David Woodruff

Adobe announced earlier this month that it will stop development of Flash for mobile devices and get behind HTML 5 instead.

Look at the iMac, when it came out everyone complained that it had no floppy drive and only had USB ports. Today, thanks to modern digital delivery and network speeds, there is no real need for optical media. Apple is already using online downloads as its primary way of distributing software and Microsoft is following suit with Windows 8. By the time Apple starts selling computers with Blu-Ray (if they do) all optical media will be obsolete.

A person is smart, people are dumb (Men in Black).That is the problem with listening to the “crowd”…a “person” can be a genius but “people” are slow to change and generally dumb. While a person can have innovative ideas and lead the way, groups of people spend too much time arguing and trying to make decisions. By the time they put something on the market it is already behind the genius’s product and just like everything else out there.

As much as people complain about Steve and his ‘draconian’ style he was a genius and led the way at Apple. Most of the true leaders in history where very individualistic and did not always listen to everyone else around them. They had a vision and went after it.

As much as I love Apple and enjoy their products I can already see the company going back to the in between Steve years.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

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